Hey guys, first time starting a new topic. I’ve been doing olympic lifts for past few months now. Just starting to get more comfortable and confident about it. However, I have a problem with catching the weight on cleans and snatches. In my opinion, the problem isn’t getting the weight up, it’s catching it or getting low enough to catch it.
In these two videos I’m doing clean, but not exactly sure how my form is. If anyone can please critique it, that would be great. ANY advice, please just be honest. Thanks guys!
Video # 2 - “hang power clean” attempt + a “pull” of sorts ???
The most obvious flaw ( for even the lay person to observe ) would be the skyrocketing of your hips during your “first pull” off the floor. Add to this your positioning, lack of proper movement synchronization, arm pulling, hip strength deficiency and, according to some, your footwear.
It’s a good thing that you have the desire to do/learn these lifts in the first place, but I would start from scratch and get access to a COMPETANT coach.
First video: your hips are rising high on the first pull. Keep your butt low, chest high.
You are bending you arms way too early. You really should not actively bend your arms, that will happen naturally from the force of the hips that are actually cleaning the weight up. Your arms just kind of follow along.
Second video: Keep your heels on the ground in the second pull (from knees to hips). The only reason your heels should come off the ground is from the force of your hips. Shoot for the “scoop position” (see picture).
Also on the second video: the reason it seems that you “can’t go down any farther” on receiving the clean is because your body position is all wrong (besides the fact that you are catching it forward due to the problems I listed above).
Pause the video at the bottom-most part of where you catch it: your ankle mobility is at it’s max, any more and your heels will have to come off the ground. The solution is to keep your butt back when catching the bar and to squat down properly. Your ears should be lined up with the an area that is slightly behind the mid-portion of your foot, towards the heel.
Yeah, in both videos I was starting off with a power clean…
for 1st video it was supposed to be 3 hang cleans, but instead I did 1 power, 2 hang…
2nd video, I went for a hang clean at 205, but missed it…so I thought I would try a power clean, and I guess I didn’t have enough left in me to get it up, and ended up being a power clean pull…
but not excuses, I do have a long ways to go…
I do understand your point about arm pulling and body positioning, but still confused about my hips skyrocketing? Do you mean my hips come forward too early in the lift? Sorry, just trying to get it clear.
Thanks for your input, I’ll just keep trying to make adjustments as I can.
He meant your hips coming off the floor too fast relative to your hips on the first pull
First Pull: where your bar moves from the floor to about mid thigh
Second Pull: mid thigh to full extension of the hips with body upright and on to toes ideally
Your using your arms far too much. This is most evident in the unsucessful 205 attempt. Your arms don’t whip around forwards fully in a front squat rack due to you using the arms to row the weight up
The hips once fully extended and after the shrug with STRAIGHT ARMS is THE MOST POWER YOU WILL GIVE TH BAR. Pulling with your arms will do f0ck all when the weight is heavy.
If your arms are ‘loaded’ with the weight you can’t rack it properly.
Have someone hold your arms down hard to simulate the weight, not try and rack this imageinary bar, impossible ahey?
Now do it with them holding your arms lightly. MUCH easier ahey?
Do more bar work:
A lifter is able to whip their elbows forwards because once they have completed the 2nd pull, the bar has all the moment it’s going to get to get up. Now you just whip your elbows through fast to ‘recieve’ the bar’.
Thanks for the picture and video guys. I clearly see now where my hips rise way too fast compared to other parts and I’ve know my arm issue for a little while now, but haven’t improved on it. I guess that mental thing telling me “how else is the weight gonna go up” but thats stupid on my part.
I really got some work to do, finally great to get some pointers from others than my own eye. I will definitely practice the basics before trying to go heavy. Thanks guys, let you know how it goes.
[quote]bassip21 wrote:
Yeah, in both videos I was starting off with a power clean…
for 1st video it was supposed to be 3 hang cleans, but instead I did 1 power, 2 hang…
2nd video, I went for a hang clean at 205, but missed it…so I thought I would try a power clean, and I guess I didn’t have enough left in me to get it up, and ended up being a power clean pull…
but not excuses, I do have a long ways to go…
I do understand your point about arm pulling and body positioning, but still confused about my hips skyrocketing? Do you mean my hips come forward too early in the lift? Sorry, just trying to get it clear.
Thanks for your input, I’ll just keep trying to make adjustments as I can.[/quote]
You didn’t do any cleans, hang cleans in either video. You did a powe clean and hang power clean. IF you are going to perform these lifts, please get the terms right. A Clean is into a full squat position.
Otherwise, everything the rest of the people said is spot on. I agree with the shoes comment though, just my opinion.
